The station began as WDOK-FM on October 4, 1954, simulcasting its sister station, WDOK. Eventually, WDOK-FM originated its own programming and featured a beautiful music format. On December 12, 1965, WDOK changed its callsign to WIXY and adopted a Top 40 format; WDOK-FM itself changed its call sign to WDOK. The station was branded "Stereo Cleveland", with the slogan "Beautiful Music for the Lands of the Western Reserve." Station personalities and voice overs included Wayne Mack, the founder of WDOK's beautiful music format and producer of the many memorable monthly odes and station breaks that he composed and set to music, Ken Nordine, Tom Armstrong, previously the morning host at WGAR AM in the 1940s and 50s; and David Mark, who also worked for Cleveland market "beautiful music" stations WQAL, WKSW, WJW , and WDBN. The station was programmed by Peter Irmiter and Neil Hershberger after they went live. By the 1980s, WDOK had come under common ownership with WWWE; both stations were sold on November 30, 1987 by Lake Erie Radio Company, owned by Art Modell and Al Lerner, to the Independent Group Limited partnership, owned by Tom Embrescia, Larry Pollock, and Tom Wilson.
By the mid-1980s, WDOK's beautiful music format had brightened to a more contemporary flavor, with more vocals being played and the vocals being by "soft rock" artists such as James Taylor and Elton John. Ratings remained high, but the format attracted mostly older listeners in advertiser-unfriendly demographics and not the younger audiences courted by advertisers, and so WDOK made the final and complete switch to an adult contemporary format in 1987 with Sue Wilson as program director. The station promoted its new AC format with TV commercials announcing that it was "coming out of the elevator". WDOK initially positioned itself as a soft AC, midway between beautiful music and the mainstream AC format played on WLTF and WMJI, but eventually the format evolved into the "soft rock" approach.
New 102/Star 102
On January 9, 2012, WDOK debuted a new and more up tempo playlist, re-branding themselves as "The New 102", complete with new logo and imaging. On November 13, 2012, WDOK moved from its longtime studio home at One Radio Lane, off East Saint Clair Avenue in Downtown Cleveland, to the Halle Building on Euclid Avenue, also Downtown. Sister station WQAL joined WDOK in the move; as a result, all four Cleveland CBS Radio stations are now located in the same building. On December 19, 2012, longtime WDOK morning host "Trapper" Jack Elliot announced that the station had opted not to renew the contracts of both he and cohost Jim McIntyre, much to the dismay of many listeners. On April 3, 2015, WDOK rebranded as "Star 102". On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.
Traditionally, WDOK plays Christmas music throughout the holiday season under the brand "Christmas 102", usually beginning around mid-November. In December 2018, after the station did their annual switch to all Christmas music, WDOK decided to stop playing the well-known 1944 Christmas song Baby, It's Cold Outside, saying the lyrics seemed inappropriate in a time of the #MeToo movement, with increasing sensitivity and awareness of sexual manipulation and harassment of women. The station's move sparked national, and even international, attention and controversy.
Current programming
The weekday schedule includes WDOK personalities Jen Toohey and Tim Richards, Liz Campbell, Glenn Anderson, and Chelsea Lyons. The HD2 digital subchannel broadcasts an adult album alternative format under the brand "The Coffee Shop".
